This and that

I love perusing other blogs and I've come across some fabulous artwork, sayings, etc. from Pinterest that I thought I'd share. Some are inspiring, some are creative, and some are just good for a hearty giggle. Grab a chair and take a moment to lighten up a bit. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I did not create, write, or design these...I just wish I was that good!

I am going to save this one for
my hubby's Valentine's Day card.
(shh!)

Who says farmers don't have a sense of humor?

This was an actual float in our local July 4th parade.
Sign reads...
Wanted: Good Woman - Must be able to clean, cook, sew, plant and harvest crops.
Must have John Deere and barn. Please send picture of tractor and barn.

We all know or have known one of
these people and they are awesome!

How I feel about my tater tots!

Is that my brother's hand writing from years back?

I would love to do this to our big tree
out front to make the speeding carpool moms
slow down a bit.

The guitar onesie...classic!

I'd be that millionaire chic who no one
knows she has money because I'd still be
clipping coupons and shopping the clearance
aisles...pretty much the same ole' girl....
except for the pristine white Porsche 911 Turbo
with terracotta leather interior in the garage.

My mother loves to iron...
so I know she's going to
giggle at this one like I did.

Can this also go for an entire pan of brownies???

This should be on the actual
clothing label or packaging of tights.
For those of you who've witnessed this,
you know what I'm talking about.

AK is surely laughing at this one!
- Amy #1 :)

Ian loved this one!

For those that know me well, this is spot on!

Precious.

Our soft-hearted, analytical and creative little boy



- While at the zoo last week I overheard my son attempt to get an older set of girls' attention by using this line, "Hey, girls! I know math. Four and four plus equals eight." (Yes, I cracked up inside thinking that I just overheard my son's first pick-up line at the ripe age of four and a half.)

Ian - June 2011

- Ian has recently learned about compliments and how much it makes people smile to receive a compliment and how good it feels to give genuine compliments to others. He will often pause and tell his Daddy how handsome he looks on his way to work or tell his Mama that she looks beautiful dressed for church. And the sweetest is when he tells Anna she looks pretty when she's dressed up in her play dress-up clothes. And he's being quite genuine. Just as it feels good to hear these compliments I have to also remember that it makes a little guy beam to get a compliment, too. So I will compliment his Lego-building skills, how smart he is when he does his "math", and how handsome he looks.

Enjoying his first snowcone
at the zoo this summer.
Of course it had to be a blue one!

- Ian now enjoys saying the meal-time prayers, especially dinner, for everyone - even out in public at a restaurant. He will often speak up and ask, "Can I say the prayer for everyone?"

- Recently Ian has started singing really long, elaborate songs that he comes up with all on his own. Because the content is usually something about how God loves us, I tend to see them as prayers he is coming up with and simply putting to music. He will whistle often and sometimes whistle entire songs he creates. He recently challenged his Papa Bob to a whistling contest via Skype and I'm not sure who won that one!

- Mark is usually the one to tuck Ian into bed at night after we all read books and say prayers together, and their ritual is to tell each other one "spooky" story. Ian lives for the stories Mark tells and will often attempt to retell them to me the next day but will say, "I can't tell it as good as Daddy does." Ian will ask Mark for a scary story but just as the seemingly-scary part starts, Mark turns it into something funny and I can hear a burst of giggles from down the hall.

- Ian is our little "engineer". He is definitely a thinker and very analytical at times. He will tinker with his Legos for long periods of time, he'll take things apart to see how they work and then put them back together, he'll use his toys in creative ways the makers never intended, and just has a healthy dose of creativity. He's very much like his Daddy! It's fun to just watch Ian sometimes. On a recent zoo trip I captured a shot of him being fascinated by how the hooks on the ropes in one of the exhibits worked.

The little engineer.

- Our little man has also taken to choosing his own clothes, right down to the socks and shoes, within the past six months or so. And boy do his outfits get interesting. Just today I had to convince him that wearing his fireman rain boots to a birthday party wasn't a good idea. He loves to wear his Spiderman baseball cap and his soccer cleats...out - to the store, the natural history museum, you name it. It gets pretty interesting to see what he chooses but sometimes he surprises us with something that truly matches. Other times, not so much. Here are some of his wardrobe creations. I always let him wear what he wants to wear whether it matches or not because it was his choice. I do sometimes over-ride his shoe choice in the interest of his own safety. But he knows our shoe rule is that if he (or his sister) chooses a pair of shoes, they must wear them the entire time we're away from home and I will not bring another pair. Thankfully, we haven't had any situations where he complained about his feet hurting. I am a firm believer in logical consequences...within reason, of course.

He often chooses plaid shorts and a Star Wars
or super hero shirt, but today he threw in
his soccer cleats and tall socks....to keep it stylish!

My creatively dressed young man at the zoo
with his zoo pass around his neck and
map-in-hand, ready to go!

I love watching Ian grow and learn. He's a fascinating little boy (as biased as I am). As the child's book titled Guess How Much I Love You reads, 'I love all that you are and all that you will be.'

Where do we go from here?

An updated post....

As many of you are probably well-aware, the verdict and sentencing of Casey Anthony in the murder of her two-year-old daughter Caylee has come to a close. And it's not without a truly heavy heart that most of us from the outside, especially those of us with children, think of the precious life that was taken by a murderer who did not receive the punishment she deserves.

At least we can take comfort in knowing precious Caylee has gone home to be with Him where she will be genuinely loved for eternity.

And it would come as no surprise to those who follow the news or read stories online that Caylee's disappearance and harm at the hand of someone/people she loved is not an isolated event. In the past week or so I've come across numerous cases of child abuse, neglect and murder from across the country that absolutely sicken me. My heart aches for these poor children who don't have a voice, an escape, a person to simply listen and rescue them.

Some may argue that our country doesn't need yet another law on the books or that our government has more important things to worry about but I strongly disagree. The disintegration of our basic moral fiber is something each and every one of us should be very much concerned with. Because as children are failed by their parents, family, and whoever else, the ones who survive are lost, broken, and hurting with little self-worth.

So, yes, I do believe that the creation of Caylee's Law will help save children in the future as well as hold accountable the people who abuse, neglect or harm them. Look at what the Amber Alert system has done.

But a few very good points were brought up in some posts and user responses I was reading just yesterday. One person noted that in the current case of 13 year old Christian Choate of Indiana there were numerous journal entries by the boy explaining his on-going abuse and there were red flags raised at his pediatrician's office - verbal and non-verbal. It is sad to think abuse and neglect and even murder can go undetected or unreported when it seems that people outside of the family had a hunch (or knew) something wasn't right. So that lead one person to respond by saying the best thing we can do as a society is to be an advocate for at-risk kids in our community. This statement immediately lifted my feeling of hopelessness as it regards these children.

Despite all of the negativity and sadness of such cases, it is very true that we CAN indeed do something to help end child abuse and neglect - one child at a time. Each of us can get involved in any way we can - whether it is a financial commitment or a commitment of our time - as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer, a Big Brother/Sister volunteer, a YMCA volunteer, a teacher at Sunday School, volunteer with local foster care organizations or a local shelter. There are so many avenues for helping in each and every community nationwide.

The other thing each of us can do is to support and uplift local social workers because their job is extremely demanding with little compensation and positives. As we lift up those who are trying to do good, we can also pray for them and the children they are trying to help. We can also pray for the missing and endangered children themselves.
A small step towards helping is to please take a moment to sign a petition to create a federal law — called “Caylee’s Law” — that would make the failure of a parent to notify law enforcement of a child’s disappearance a felony.
http://www.change.org/petitions/create-caylees-law
The Change.org site has registered over 1.1 million signatures as of July 11th! Fantastic!

God bless all the innocent children and adults who are victims of senseless violence at the hands of evil.

A slightly crafty obession

This summer I have been regularly stalking crafty blogs and I'm gathering loads of random projects to attempt...when I get time. When will that be? Hmmm...maybe in September when the kids go back to school, maybe when the kids prefer to play without a parental playmate at all times, or maybe the day after the kids' high school graduation day. Either way, I am determined to put my minimal creative skills to good use and discover a new hobby - crafting. I like to think I got at least a small portion of the uber-creative gene passed down on my Mother's side. :)

Colorful rosette wreath courtesy of KikiCreates. I love this
idea because you could create a seasonal or themed wreath
depending on what fabrics/colors you choose.

Dinner napkins - used to make an apron.

The completed napkin apron courtesy of TaylorMade.

My Mom is amazing with a sewing machine. She seems to be constantly creating something throughout the year and each project turns out beautifully. Mom made both of my kids a custom quilt to match their nursery and I will treasure those forever. As a girl, I remember her making me clothes - some pieces like a tapestry menswear vest and a striped menswear blazer (remember when both of those were the IT pieces?) as well as an enormous, fully-lined tapestry duffel bag for summer camp. She made my dolls countless outfits over the years and has now outfitted Anna's baby doll with various items, right down to a cloth diaper with teeny-tiny Velcro closures. She has made a tool belt for Ian and super hero capes for both kids. So I'm hoping this coming winter she will give me a crash-course in basic sewing because there are so many seemingly simple (wink) cute projects I have come across that I'm anxious to try.

I've had some cute fabric for a pillowcase-style dress
project since Anna was born. Maybe she'll get her
pillowcase dress by her third birthday. :)

I admire how super-crafty chics can take ordinary things and turn them into something wonderfully beautiful. So I'm going to start slow and see what I can create. So be warned...you might receive a made-with-love gift when your next birthday or holiday rolls around.

I am not giving any hints as to my projects, just in case my creativity fails me and a certain project goes really wrong - much like some of my experimental dinner dishes do (I hear my husband laughing). I'll keep you posted as my creativity unfolds.

His Great Name

Ian's child-like faith is one I admire and am often in awe of. His precious little spirit has not yet been tainted by the enemy or with the harsh realities of the world. And even at just four years old, when he speaks of his God, he does it with a deep sincerity; a belief that is so solid that he can't fathom someone not believing what he believes. I marvel at that sometimes and I pray his relationship with his Savior is one he cherishes for a lifetime.

Anna is not old enough to fully understand, but God has already planted a seed of faith in her. She takes great joy in participating in meal-time or bedtime prayers and has taken to saying her own prayer after her and I say the bedtime prayer together. It is pretty precious to here here thank God for everyone (and everything) that comes to mind. Tonight she thanked God for the usual...Daddy, Mommy, Ian (Ee-uhh as she says Ian's name), Coal, and all her family...but she changed it up a bit and also added one of her own...Pingu (the little cartoon she enjoys). Too funny. But she puts a unique Anna-style twist into all her prayers...she insists on growling, yes growling, her Amen at the end. She is one joyful, silly little girl.

That's why this song by Natalie Grant is so powerful to me right now. It's called "Your Great Name" and it is amazingly arranged. It reminds me that no matter what we have been through in the past or are going through in the present, what we doubt or what we think we believe, Jesus is the only truth. It is a truly Great Name with such unimaginable power.

This song is one I will look forward to putting on the surround sound in the living room as loud as I can stand it (the drums/background is amazing) while the kids are at school this fall and I'm cleaning house. :)

Take a break from the day and enjoy a moment with a live performance by Natalie Grant at Saddleback Church.
And check out the full version via Playlist with the awesome accompaniment.

Have a blessed week!

July 4th Celebrations

Independence Day was pretty fun this year. Our entire family ventured out to the parade early this morning and were lucky enough to get up-front seats for all eleven of us at our favorite spot along the parade route. The kids were so excited to see all of the excitement. Anna must have danced and clapped through three-quarters of the parade and she LOVED seeing the horses and had a particular fascination for the vintage cars with their odd horns as well as the drums in the school marching bands. And the older boys got so excited when "soldiers" or motorcycles or anything with loud sounds came by. Anna and Braden loved to get up and dance together when the school marching bands went by, too.




















Our local parade and July 4th festivities has been rated one of the top ten best in the nation. This year they really outdid themselves. It was TWO HOURS long and there were 100 floats.

Anna loved the old cars.

Ian's attention was taken by the "soldiers".

Following the parade, Mark grilled tasty burgers and hot dogs and the entire crew enjoyed a potluck lunch indoors because the temperature was over 100 degrees...again. After naps Ian enjoyed playing in the paddling pool and attempting the new slip-n-slide. He didn't really have the momentum to go the length of the slide but he tried. I had to get my bathing suit on and show him how it was done...no photos taken of that sad sight, thank goodness! Ian, Mark and I enjoyed being silly together in the yard. When Anna woke up she decided to play in the pool for a bit and then blow bubbles.

All of the kids enjoyed the huge group
of Boy Scouts holding up an American flag
that spanned the width of the four-lane road.

By mid-day the kids were very ready for a nap.

Ian's downhill attempt...on his bottom.

The fireworks shows throughout our state have been in jeopardy due to a burn ban because of high temperatures and drought conditions. But it was safe enough to have the show and we got to enjoy it from the comfort of our air conditioned sunroom. Unfortunately, a large Elm tree in our backyard died and we had it removed last week. We lost a lot of shade and green in our yard but the positive of that is now we have a huge clearing in the back where we can see the fireworks show without any obstructions. We've been able to watch the show from our backyard in years' past but the trees have blocked the view a bit. Not this year. We had a clear view of the entire show. We promised to wake Ian  up for the fireworks and he loved it. We didn't wake Anna and thankfully she slept through it all and slept in until 8:30 the next morning. It was a good holiday weekend!

We called these "crazy" fireworks
because they'd scatter all different directions.

Videos to enjoy...

Anna and Braden dance to the marching band.

Anna follows the high school girls' dance routine.

Anna dances to the high school marching band.

Braden and Anna enjoy a square-dancing float

and show them their own moves.